You can read about this in detail in my free book called “The Sourdough Framework”. You can get it here: breadco.de/book. You can support the project with a donation, but there is absolutely no knead. I believe information like this should be free and accessible to everyone. The book is made for everyone who wants to understand the important details when making sourdough bread. Thank you!
There was a "chain letter" of dough that went around the UK once upon a time when Facebook was new. Can't remember the name of the starter but it was a whole recipe along with it.
Finally a nerdy engineer who analytically explain bakery instead of just listing do-this do-that. You answered a lot of questions I had, so thank you very much, and may the gluten be with you too.
..now to build an Ardiuno or STM32 Microcontroller C++ program and contraption for a "Sourdough Starter Machine"... Put flour and dechlorinated water in hoppers, and press go... It would have a discards bin and an auger system, etc... It will use a fluid metering pump like a Keurig to meter the water, a miniature clay extruder type dual auger to stir and process the starter, and a purge gate for the discards, cleaning, and harvesting. The discards could be dropped into a dehydrator bin or conveyor belt so as to turn the extras into dried starter automatically. Consumes 10 grams flour per day... (or you can adjust the batch size in increments) Make it the size of a 1 lb breadmaker... One might be able to hack a bread machine for a quick prototype (but how to get the daily discards would be interesting)...
Since every UA-cam sourdough expert seems to have their own, unique way of making bread it seems wise to hitch your wagon to one channel and stay with it. I'll stay with this guy - he seems pretty well versed and he has flowcharts, which really sealed the deal. Bread on...
Hendrik. I love this simple style of presentation that is so fresh. I know everyone will like different styles, but here there is no messing around or deviating too much. It is far more interesting to follow and leaves the viewer wanting to try it and also wanting more in this style. Please keep this new style up.
Interesting take on stiff starter! I am tempted to try it since I live in a warm climate and it can inhibit bacterial growth. However, some other blogs state that it results in a slower fermentation, and more sourness. Isn’t this contrary to having more yeast (speeds up fermentation)? Also how would a levain affect a starter? Would that count as a conversion or are there properties remaining with the starter that have already been trained?
I too use the stiff starter method with a small change. I mix 25gms of flour and 25gms of water with the 10ths of starter and then add 25gms flour to cover the top of the stiff dough. When I’m ready to use it I pull it out of the fridge and feed it 25gms of warm water. I feed twice before making levain approximately 6 hours apart. I reserve my 10 gems of starter and make my mix again and put it to bed in the fridge. I have plenty of levain for my use and a long lasting starter with no discards!
Hello, when you say feed twice 6 hours apart.... what do you do? And, Does it stay on the kitchen bench? And what do you mean when you say you reserve starter? (Sorry, beginner mate😊)
@@MsOLWYNN I give about 50gms of flour and 50mls of warm water. Just small amounts to get it going and have to use warm water. If it’s not very active after this I will feed it again but I might discard half. You don’t need 1kg of starter. Which is what can happen if you don’t discard.
I followed this video to make starter from just water and whole-grain Einkorn flour and used the discard for crackers. The starter worked and the crackers are delicious. I'm shocked how easy it was and the quality of the output. Thank you The Bread Code.
Interessant. Nach einigen verschiedenen Varianten mit diversen Mengenangaben und Temperaturen mach ich meinen Sauerteig auch einfach 50g/50g. Temperatur des Wassers nach Gefühl und auch die teilweise Entsorgung des Sauerteiges mache ich nach Gefühl. Ich benutze auch immer das gleiche Gefäß, Wechsel also nie. Hab jetzt auch einen neuen gestartet mit 70g Mehl und 50g Wasser. Der ging bei gleichem Mehl und gleichem Wasser merklich stärker auf. Damit hat es auch das erste Mal als langeführtes Sauerteigbrot komplett ohne zugesetzte Hefe geklappt
I love the idea of traveling with your starter! Also, thank you for providing so much detail in this video. You've mentioned things I haven't even heard of yet as a beginner. Very eye opening. It also shows me how much of a rabbit hole I'm falling in 😅
I started to change my starter to a stiff starter after watching another video of yours a couple of days ago, usually if I feed in the afternoon/evening when I get up in the morning it’s deflated but the stiff starter is still nicely domed!
hi. i enjoy your videos and have learned much. i only started trying to bake sour dough (baguettes) for less than 2 months. i live in the subtropics and my starter was fully developed in 4 days. have since switched to your stiff starter which was ready in 2 days but i fed it another day. indeed a game changer. the flavor is much milder and subtle. looking forward to your new projects in 2022.
I always saw all these thick amazing starters on videos and wondered what I was doing wrong as my started grew amazingly during the day just to deflate following morning, the majority of the videos on the internet never mention the STIFF STARTER, thanks so much for all this VERY CLEAR information, just what I needed to understand!
Discard is so tasty and good. Another thing I like doing is frying it directly in a pan with herbs folded into it. VERY tasty and great to eat with breakfast and dinner right after you feed your starter.
This is a great video. Here are some extras from an old baker who reads up on the science as well. Most of the yeasts in grain or on the outside, the bran. This is discarded in the making of white flour. Staring your natural leaven using wholemeal flour is a lot faster. (Yes I noticed you did this.) Rye flour has much more available nutrients. Switching 10g of rwst feed when I see bubbles and the second feed 8 hours later. It is ready to use in about 48 hours. The lactobacilli move in and get established over the next four weeks. They mainly come from the bakers hands and the atmosphere. So the leaven will improve. You can convert to a stiff stater in one feed. This is based on years of experience. For years people have overcomplicated the whole natural leaven thing. They are extremely robust. As for taking your starter with you to collect yest and bacteria from around the world and buying 'ancient' sourdough starters from others. It does not work. Withing a week or two your yeasts and LABS get replaced by the flours you use at home and the LABS in your home. This assertion is based on biochemistry research. It's superb to see someone using a fridge instead of discards. The only time I use discards is on those odd occasions I have mistreated my starter and it becomes too acidic. This is the best video on this subject I have ever seen. A joy to watch.
I wish we could get you to make some videos and share the old pro knowledge. There's a lot of misinformation in baking and few pro bakers share their life worth of lessons learned.
More... A lot of modern home bread baking is based on traditional artisan French bread baking. Though not things like milk breads, seed breads etc or Italian and Spanish breads, which are not so dissimilar. Book: Thomas Teffri-Chambelland. Sourdough Baking A treatise. There is a version in English. Though he is not a Home Baker and is a little behind the modern curve. For Rye bread there is only one book and it is excellent. The Rye Baker - Stanley Ginsberg. - Website too. Good luck
@@pawel7055 Thanks:) I'm reposting. My last post was too much. I write articles and post them on a site. Sadly it would be wrong to post that address on someone else's site. Additionally our site is having difficulties. I am wondering about putting the articles together or a self published book, or find a site to host them. I do it out of a love of Home bread baking and do it all for free. No, UA-cam videos is too much work. It can take me three or four days to write an article as every fact is cross checked etc. As you can see I have posted some books. TBH I have drown tired of bread UA-cams. Too often they are by people still learning to bake and who have to keep ups a ferocious pace which seems to leave them too little time to do the studying it takes. It has taken me fifteen years of intensive sudy made harder because there are few good books. So I don't blame UA-camrs too much. They are trying to earn their living.
@@kevinu.k.7042 can I ask you for the site? I did some OSINT and found your name, even some comments on other sites but not your website which was really odd. So without much of another option in finding it, I was hoping you could tell me. Also I appreciate all the details so far.
After watching a ton of videos on how to make a sourdough starter and how to use it to make a sourdough bread and getting confused, I found your channel and your instructions are very clear, simple, and have helped me a ton. Thank you so very much
Such a huge vlog on sourdough!!! 😱. It's amazing how every intricate details are covered in your videos mashallah. Thanks, you are a great help. We in India make lots of recipes out of sourdough and call that fermentation "khameer" in Hindi/Urdu. Edit: it will be great if you cover those recipes too. Thanks 👍☺️
Over the years, I've watched many people show us how to grow starter. The techniques vary greatly and I'm sure they all work. That's really the instructive point: They all work. I am not an engineer and must have inherited the genetic material that made my parents instinctive cooks. I don't think they ever measured anything in the kitchen. For starter, flours from different parts of the world will likely produce different starter characteristics. The yeast spores are in the flour. The glass container must be very clean, i.e. no detergent residue. I use all-purpose flour. Any water will work but I've had much better luck with distilled water. Do not touch the starter with your fingers. Early contamination should be avoided. Rinse the fork or spoon you use to stir the mixture before using it. I don't weigh...just start with a tablespoon of flour and enough distilled water to make a very thick batter and take it from there. In a few days, mine doubles in about 2-3 hr. When I plan to bake I try to have enough starter for a loaf, use it all and regrow the next batch from whatever is left in the jar...usually whatever is left clinging to the inside of the jar. Works well...no waste.
This is interesting. When I first started, I used to use distilled water. I can see where it would be beneficial to do so at the start but I've never rinsed my utensils and my hands have been all over my starter from the beginning. As time has gone on, I discovered it made virtually no difference when I used tap water. Now we are in a home that has a water softener, and that doesn't seem to make a difference in the feeding of my starter, either. If anything, it's made it stronger. I think it has something to do with the small amount of increased sodium levels in the water. 🤷♀️ Once starter is good and strong, I've discovered it's not the delicate thing I used to believe it is. It can handle a lot!😉
@@simplybeautifulsourdough8920 My comments were intended to help those who were planning to begin the process of developing a new starter. Many end in frustration when the process seems much too slow or repeated contamination with fungus occurs. Decades ago I suffered similar failures and tried to learn from them. Following the guidelines I outlined seems to work reliably. But, as I said, they all work...more or less. I certainly agree with you that, once a starter has developed, it is very hard to kill. That reminds me: It's been weeks since I've fed mine, so better get to it.
@@wholeNwon LOL! Totally agree! I was in a hurry when I replied to you and didn't make it clear that your tips are great for erring on the side of caution while getting 'er going. I think one thing I was worried about as a newbie was doing something down the line to kill the starter I'd worked so hard to grow and maintain. In my reply I was doing a crummy job of attempting to point out that once you have a strong starter established you don't have to be so careful. I apologize for not being clear about that.
@@nancyannesunboxings Not at all. It's a fun topic. There's so much written on what is basically something very simple. I'd add that long ago I had 3 or 4 jars of different starters (some with "legend" histories"). Each produced loaves that did taste different. But, as time went by (it does tend to do that), those differences were lost. It's easy to understand how that happened but it makes one more aware of the biologic cloud in which we function. Enjoyed your comments. Thank you.
@wholeNwon, I definitely respect Hendrik's knowledge and experience and much of my own process comes from what I learn from him. But he recommends a digital scale - and I use a digital scale every time I bake - and that is a purely modern tool. So you come along and recommend how your parents cook, telling of your own instinctive skills yet your own methods suggest they are modern technology based. As Hendrik mentioned in the history of sourdough, it has been used for thousands of years. People have been successfully baking sourdough breads long before the concept of sterilization was ever even a thought and certainly before you could get distilled water in the home kitchen. Rinsing utensils with raw well water in the pre-1900 kitchen wouldn't have created the sterile environment you suggest. How do you knead or stretch dough without touching the starter with your hands? Many of us today, me included, are germaphobes and wash our hands all day long. The Middle-Ages housewife didn't even wash her hands after going to the latrine. I do love making (and eating) sourdough using all the modern technology available to me but my original reason for learning to make sourdough was to learn how to feed my family in a disaster when I don't have all the modern accoutrements. I'm not arguing against hygiene and especially not suggesting anyone not wash their hands after going to the bathroom. I'm just suggesting that perhaps the real way to bake sourdough is the old-fashioned way of making the dough by hand and by feel, keeping a bit of dough for the next batch, and not worrying one's self so much about whether our dough hydration was 69% or 70% or whether one used 426 grams of flour instead of the 425 grams the recipe suggested. Without a doubt, the best sourdough video I have seen on youtube was a grandma who baked her sourdough without a scale and with starter that was culled from last week's dough. It was simple, fast, and reliable.
I just want to thank you and tell you how much I appreciate you and your work !!! I just downloaded the book and I couldn’t be more grateful so thank you so much!
oh man... this video the best... and you explain it with flow chart... that is amazing... the free gift book is awesome... i need to start making my firs starter... hope all will go well... thank you for your book and amazing video...
Thank you for the great tutorial! What I like most is the info on how to tell when a starter is ready, other than "X days" instruction which is not very reliable.
Bravo! I 've learned a lot from you this morning. What a prodigious and beautiful mind you have, my friend! Much simplicity, care, dedication, humility and wisdom is in your channel; which I greatly appreciate from the bottom of my heart. Much obliged, again! May the GOD OF THE BIBLE bless you!
Great content! If I have time to make bread where I'm traveling or if my friend wants some starter, I take my starter with me. It's been to Korea, Egypt, Germany and the USA.
You have a good sense of humor and lots of great information. Thankyou for sharing! I'm ready to try my first batch of sour dough starter and bake my first loaf of sour dough bread.
Yes! It is on sale. I am currently trying to figure out who in the community can help with the deliveries. If you are interested please try placing an order: ko-fi.com/thebreadcode/shop. I plan to ship them once per month. But earlier with the help of others. I am also looking for somebody who can help reselling in the US. It's a good way to support the channel :-)
Great video; I loved the simplicity and practicality of it.. And that it treated us like intelligent people without overcomplicating it (I still do need to get into the weeds but this is a great "actionable" video... I'm guessing this channel will have the more in depth information that I'm looking for too) I wish I had started baking a long time ago... I've been making pizza dough for years but never took the time to pay much attention... Have made cookies on and off since I was about 15 but again; never paid attention to why things worked (very much at least)... I've been using Kenji's chocolate chip cookie recipe (basically) for years with great results, but I can't wait to try using some sourdough starter in my dough (and powdered milk which I've never tried in cookies)... Seems to me that the resting period in the fridge is KEY to good chocolate chip cookies... So I assume this this due to bacteria, enzymes etc, which means that a starter added to my cookies might take it to a whole new level... Anyways, great video; thanks
Hi Hendrik! First vielen dank for your incredible effort and dedication in your videos. I have found the motivation for home-baking thanks to you. I have a question about my starter. It has been 6 days and the starter grows rapidly after feeding, but after 9-10 hours it stars to deflate and bubbles start to shrink, at the 24th hour it almost turns where it started with few tiny bubbles. The scent is strong anyway, i wonder if i have to feed it twice a day? Thank you so much. Keep up your incredible work!🎉😊
I have noticed that after my starter has finished rising I can stir it up and it will do a second rise even higher than the first. I mix my starter very thoroughly in a bowl before I put it in the jar. Perhaps you can experiment and see if this could be beneficial to bread making.
I presume you are basically autolysing the starter and with the stir, you are “kneading” and aligning the gluten. As long as there is still sugars available, it will produce more gas and rise more. What ratio of old starter to flour and water? If it low(1-5-5 or 1-10-10, vs 1-2-2), there is probably plenty food left after 8 hours.
@@MichaelRei99 hmmm? That’s odd. In my experience anyway. If I stir my peaked starter, it will rise again. But not more than the first rise. Maybe your local, natural yeast is very active and strong. Or mine is weaker🤷🏼♂️. I would just bulk ferment at a lower temp so it doesn’t rise too fast and it still gets the sourness desired. Unless it doesn’t affect the bread rise, but just the starter. So many variables. This would be a complex experiment.
Hendrik, I learn from you every time. I also learn from Sune and Charlie. Thanks to you and all the others. English suggestion: Don't call yourself a stingy German. Stingy implies a moral defect, like Scrooge. Call yourself frugal. Not wanting to waste. Regards from Bill the Philologist in Austin, Texas.
Thanks so much for posting this clear, easy to follow method for making a sour dough starter. I’d tried another UA-camr method and after ten days it was still not very active. I’m in Australia and it’s really cold earlier than normal this year, but following your tips I had a starter within 5 days and I made my first bread with this on day 6. I then made a stiff starter and the second loaf that I made with the stiff starter was great. I need a few more bakes to learn how to develop better dough strength, but I’m sure I can follow your tips to develop my skills. Thanks heaps!
I really enjoy your videos, its so addictive, and I learned so much. I am beginner in sourdough baking. The problem I have appears to be weak starter. I misunderstood the feeding technique and feeded 1:1 (starter : flour) ratio, 2 times a day (22°C). The starter became weak after a week and the crumb was uneven and dense. Feeding 1:2 or 1:5 didnt help and I confess I was rushing a bit, but even though the starter looked great, rised 2-3 times after feeding with a lot of bubbles and nice smell, the crumb didnt improve. I am now feeding just dirty jar with 30g flour and 30g water. And I hope for stronger starter in week. If you could elaborate on this topic it would be great.
Amazing content man, really digging it! I have been making bread for 4 years but this channel fixes so many things for me. I really appreciate that you explain the logic, and how it works, without giving exact time. One question: For the stiff started, are you supposed to put it on the fridge every time? Right away? I though the fridge would almost stop the fermentation. So, no normal temperature at all? How is it supposed to grow? Thanks! Keep it up!
Keep 'er out on the counter after feeding until she's at least doubled. Then put 'er in the fridge to store. She'll likely continue to slowly grow in there until all nutrients are eaten up, then collapse and take a nap until you feed her again. 🙂
This was very informative and so well explained. I’ve watched, read, and experimented so much with starter but it’s never been explained like this to me. Thank you for the info! P.s. I love the flow charts! I might have to print those out for my collection/archive of bread/starter info
Thank you for the scientific approach! I decided to try your method. I have a question though. After day one do you continue to feed the starter with whole grain flour? My previous starter failed before reaching its full potential 😂 it just stopped growing. The recipe was taken from another guy. So today I started making it your way 😊
I have a starter thats about a yr and 1/2 old. I freq leave it in fridge up to 2 months or more Then tke it out and feed to backbthe next day. It always bounces back strong. I dont bake often
Enjoyed your video, which is so easy to follow. It's a joy listening to you. Thanks for sharing. I'm going to begin making you recipe now. See what happens.
You’re so fun! Love it… I’m struggling with making my starter so, I’ve stolen some from my boss 😂…she kept in the fridge and it had a dark liquid on the top. I took 60grams of it and fed 50/50 water and flour. Fingers crossed
Hey Hendrik. I decided to try and make a sourdough starter cause i watched a lot of videos of you. I still habe a question on how to make the starter. Here in the video you used 50gr of starter 50gr of flour and 50gr of water. And you have to repeat this step until the starter is ready. In your book you wrote to add just 10gr of starter and each 50gr of flour and water. What is better? Does it even matter? Thanks and Bye
Great content as always. I have problem with activity of my starter, I like cold environment. Room temperature is only 14 degrees Celsius, yeasts have a rough time :/
Dear Hendrik, thanks for your videos! looking forward reading your book. Could you explain, or make a video, about how to use the stiff starter? That would be really helpful!
Does the stiff starter work with a rye starter? I know the starter behaves differently depending on the type of flour used. Also, the stff starter might change the flavour and nutrition values of the bread, no? As in, reducing the factor that makes sourdough sour, and thus shifting it closer to comercial yeast bread?
Thank you for you expertise regarding sourdough start to finish. My question is regarding the sourdough discard, how hong can you keep it in the refrigerator and can you add one weeks to another weeks discard? Thanks!
First attempt, and I had to go back and start over. First batch, no problem, and result was beautiful gluten development. Second feeding, it bubbled up and more than doubled in size, and great gluten development. ^Third feeding, and it went soupy, and almost no bubbling. Wondering if maybe I had a super flour or some thing else happened. Oh well starting again. Interesting to me was that I had better gluten development than I ever had with my attempts at poolish breads....
I too will restart as on day one I had black liquid resting on-top. Now on day 4 I have lots of activity but the smell is not tart like yogurt more or a funk trash smell....yikes!
This summer I tried to develope my sourdough starter. Many trials with one result: at the end my bread dough turns very sticky, and sour dough itself turns liquid fast, doesn't rise good and doesn't produce huge bubbles. I've learned that this is because of Leuconostoc bacteria, which develope in the starter with other bactetia and yeat, and when temperature is not hight enough, Leucinostoc becomes dominating. It creates acidic environment and destroys gluten. Have you ever had this issue and how can this be fixed ? I'm afraid, then any starter turns this way in my hands. Thank you much, Bread code for your bread work and brrad inspiration!
I think your starter isn't mature enough yet. If you just keep feeding it the microorganisms that are best at fermenting flour will become stronger and stronger. I suggest one feeding per day. If you don't have time, one feeding every 2 days should be great too. Maybe you have a friend that can spare you a bit of his/her starter? That way you are starting with stronger more established microorganisms.
Confusing: Looks like a great instruction, but I'm confused after I downloaded the entire instruction handbook. The video and the flow says for Day 2- Day 5 (up to Day 10) "mix 50g previous/ original + 50g Flour + 50g water", but the hand book flow shows "10g previous + 50g flour + 50g water" Which ratio is correct or better??
So grateful for your videos and nerd humor! If I wasn't currently sick and not working (which is why I'm delving into sourdough) I would love to help sponsor your book. So excited.
Hendrik, since I found your channel I have seriously upped my sourdough game. Thank you so so much for sharing all your wisdom with the world. I loooooove that you take your starter on all your journeys and I feel inspired to copy this amazing idea. May the gluten be with you always. Peace ✌️
For what it is worth, I have found the best starter combines half bread flour and half organic, whole grain rye flour. I prefer larger batches of starter. Mine is 120 grams each starter, flour (60/60) and water (KA calls for 113 grams each). I make great tasting bread.
Hey Hendrik! Could you look into a gluten free starter? My s.o., who is a teacher had all her students (142) make starters from different flour types and the gluten free ones were some of the most successful! And would love to hear your thoughts on that! Thanks for the great content!
Thanks. You are my sourdough guru. Have been making sourdough once a week almost 2 years (baking traditional yeast breads for 50 years). Started a new starter for fun and in just 3-4 days was really bubbly, ph 4. Have used 2 parts water, 1 part rye flour. Has a very acetone fragrance, not like vinegar. Does this mean too acidic to make good bread? Or more bacteria than yeast? Thanks for all your helpful information.
Had an extremely similar problem -- I was using whole wheat flour with the occasional scoop or two of rye to add in some extra flavor. I wasn't able to get rid of the acetone smell after almost a month and a half so I had to restart (I also brought a new bag of flour since I was concerned my whole wheat had gone rancid). Restarted it with 50/50 organic AP Flour/Rye at 100-150% hydration and it's MUCH better
As a new sourdough baker I was finding it a bit tricky to figure out how much flour and water is in my starter when using a portion of starter that is not at 100% hydration. I therefore came up with a little formula to work it out and am sharing it in case anyone would find this handy. For example, if you have 150 grams of starter at 120% hydration and need 80 grams for your recipe, the amount of flour and water in the 80 grams of starter can be determined as follows: Flour + (starter hydration x flour) = amount of starter needed in recipe X + 1.20x = 80 2.20x = 80 X = 80 / 2.20 X = 36.4 grams flour Then subtract the 36.4 grams of flour from the 80 grams of starter to determine the amount of water in the starter: 80 - 36.4 = 43.6 grams water. Therefore 80 grams of starter at 120% hydration contains 36.4 grams of flour and 43.6 grams of water. Now the amounts of flour and water in your recipe can be accurately adjusted to account for this. This formula will work for any amount of starter at any hydration level.
Hi Rebert. I dont think you need all that math . Its always about percentages of the starter and percentages of the water regardless of how much water and flour in the starter itself. Whether the starter is stiff or liquidy deal with the stater as a single item with a percentage usually 5-20% according to the length of your fermentation period , temperature and type of flour. Poolish is different story. The amount of water and flour in poolish must be taken into account
@ Iman H while I agree with your reply, as I was starting out with learning sourdough baking a came across numerous sites that stated it was important to factor in the water and flour in the starter to not alter the overall hydration of the recipe. So in context, for a baker who is looking for exact results every time it may be worth it, but for someone like me who bakes once every two weeks to keep myself off of store bought bread it doesn’t seem to make much difference if any. By now I don’t measure when I feed my starter but go by look and feel. The same is when I hand knead my dough, adding a little water or flour to get the consistency I want. That undoubtedly throws off the hydration which makes for accounting for flour and water in the starter a moot point.
I just want to say, thank you so much for creating the content on your channel! I have been baking frisbees (they are delicious) and not understanding why... until I found your channel. There are so many things that I have learned from your videos that were never explained in the cookbooks I bought. I also really love your flow charts! ❤️ I do have 2 questions.... 1 I unfortunately bought a huge bag of flour with only 3% protein (I live in Taiwan and never knew high gluten flour existed). Since I am also German I really don't want to throw any of it away.... do you have any hacks for baking sourdough with this type of flour? 2 My starter is also being fed the same flour. It doubles and is bubbly, but I want to start feeding it whole wheat flour. Do you see any issues with this?
Petra, I hope you found out what to make with your low gluten flour. If you have space, store in freezer to keep longer. You can make pastry pie dough, pudding, soft cakes or like me I replace 25% all purpose flour with low gluten cake flour when making danish dough following Anna Olson’s recipe.
It should be fine to add whole wheat flour, mix with a bit of starch if you're worried though. Sourdough is alive and it is possible to wean it off of the food it's used to, but you don't have to do that unless you're using your started every day. Worst case you might see it slow down for a day or two.
Also with the gluten, I reccomend kneading it more, and using autolysis, that should make the gluten developed better, I knead my dough until the gluten is developed enough and it becomes hard to fold.
Software developer getting back into sourdough. Following the instructions. Only 4 days in but my starter now triples in volume in 12 hours. For kicks I refreshed it last night at 12 hours. 12 hours later it had tripled again. Doesn’t have the smell I expect yet. However, at day 6 I’m going try baking a loaf with it. I will be turning this into a stiff starter.
You can read about this in detail in my free book called “The Sourdough Framework”. You can get it here: breadco.de/book. You can support the project with a donation, but there is absolutely no knead. I believe information like this should be free and accessible to everyone. The book is made for everyone who wants to understand the important details when making sourdough bread. Thank you!
I love everything about this and hope for your success
@@SylviaRustyFae thank you!
There was a "chain letter" of dough that went around the UK once upon a time when Facebook was new. Can't remember the name of the starter but it was a whole recipe along with it.
please do your perfect sourdough starter and bread glutenfree with buckwheat flour :D
U write the book, I will gladly purchase a copy.
Finally a nerdy engineer who analytically explain bakery instead of just listing do-this do-that. You answered a lot of questions I had, so thank you very much, and may the gluten be with you too.
..now to build an Ardiuno or STM32 Microcontroller C++ program and contraption for a "Sourdough Starter Machine"... Put flour and dechlorinated water in hoppers, and press go... It would have a discards bin and an auger system, etc... It will use a fluid metering pump like a Keurig to meter the water, a miniature clay extruder type dual auger to stir and process the starter, and a purge gate for the discards, cleaning, and harvesting. The discards could be dropped into a dehydrator bin or conveyor belt so as to turn the extras into dried starter automatically. Consumes 10 grams flour per day... (or you can adjust the batch size in increments) Make it the size of a 1 lb breadmaker... One might be able to hack a bread machine for a quick prototype (but how to get the daily discards would be interesting)...
....making it more complicates like fixing a car engine... Lol!
Hail Gluten 🫡
Nerdy engineers are the best bakers
Yes well he is German they really get into things 🤣🤣🤣
Since every UA-cam sourdough expert seems to have their own, unique way of making bread it seems wise to hitch your wagon to one channel and stay with it.
I'll stay with this guy - he seems pretty well versed and he has flowcharts, which really sealed the deal.
Bread on...
This is the finest instructional video I have ever watched. I’m 76. A retired IT businessman and comp sci teacher. This is perfect.
Hendrik. I love this simple style of presentation that is so fresh. I know everyone will like different styles, but here there is no messing around or deviating too much. It is far more interesting to follow and leaves the viewer wanting to try it and also wanting more in this style. Please keep this new style up.
Thank you 🤗🙏🏻
Yep! The way of engineering.
Interesting take on stiff starter! I am tempted to try it since I live in a warm climate and it can inhibit bacterial growth. However, some other blogs state that it results in a slower fermentation, and more sourness. Isn’t this contrary to having more yeast (speeds up fermentation)? Also how would a levain affect a starter? Would that count as a conversion or are there properties remaining with the starter that have already been trained?
I too use the stiff starter method with a small change. I mix 25gms of flour and 25gms of water with the 10ths of starter and then add 25gms flour to cover the top of the stiff dough. When I’m ready to use it I pull it out of the fridge and feed it 25gms of warm water. I feed twice before making levain approximately 6 hours apart. I reserve my 10 gems of starter and make my mix again and put it to bed in the fridge. I have plenty of levain for my use and a long lasting starter with no discards!
Hello, when you say feed twice 6 hours apart.... what do you do?
And, Does it stay on the kitchen bench?
And what do you mean when you say you reserve starter?
(Sorry, beginner mate😊)
@@MsOLWYNN I give about 50gms of flour and 50mls of warm water. Just small amounts to get it going and have to use warm water. If it’s not very active after this I will feed it again but I might discard half. You don’t need 1kg of starter. Which is what can happen if you don’t discard.
@@MsOLWYNN and reserve starter means keeping that small amount back to put back in the fridge. So like I said above.
In all my experiments with sourdough I’ve found this guy’s knowledge the best out there. If you get his book/information you will learn quickly.
I followed this video to make starter from just water and whole-grain Einkorn flour and used the discard for crackers. The starter worked and the crackers are delicious. I'm shocked how easy it was and the quality of the output. Thank you The Bread Code.
I love making sourdough pancakes with my discard. The sweet maple syrup contrasts nicely with the sourdough. Thanks for a terrific video.
The end was one of the best UA-cam moments I've ever seen.
Great video! Quick question: where do you keep the mixture? Fridge? Counter? Dark place?
Thank you😊
Interessant. Nach einigen verschiedenen Varianten mit diversen Mengenangaben und Temperaturen mach ich meinen Sauerteig auch einfach 50g/50g. Temperatur des Wassers nach Gefühl und auch die teilweise Entsorgung des Sauerteiges mache ich nach Gefühl. Ich benutze auch immer das gleiche Gefäß, Wechsel also nie.
Hab jetzt auch einen neuen gestartet mit 70g Mehl und 50g Wasser. Der ging bei gleichem Mehl und gleichem Wasser merklich stärker auf. Damit hat es auch das erste Mal als langeführtes Sauerteigbrot komplett ohne zugesetzte Hefe geklappt
Perfekt. Genau so sollte man es machen. Ich mache es auch sehr stark nach Gefühl!
Can you show us how to make a sourdough focaccia? That would be amazing 🤩
Your sourdough starter (and tips about when to use) is THE BEST!! Thank you for sharing! 😃
I love the idea of traveling with your starter! Also, thank you for providing so much detail in this video. You've mentioned things I haven't even heard of yet as a beginner. Very eye opening. It also shows me how much of a rabbit hole I'm falling in 😅
I started to change my starter to a stiff starter after watching another video of yours a couple of days ago, usually if I feed in the afternoon/evening when I get up in the morning it’s deflated but the stiff starter is still nicely domed!
Did you bake bread with stiff starter? Is it easier process?
This video is worth gold! Thank you so much for making sourdough baking easy step by step!
This is pure gold . I keep coming back here to refresh my knowledge about sourdough ❤
hi. i enjoy your videos and have learned much. i only started trying to bake sour dough (baguettes) for less than 2 months. i live in the subtropics and my starter was fully developed in 4 days. have since switched to your stiff starter which was ready in 2 days but i fed it another day. indeed a game changer. the flavor is much milder and subtle. looking forward to your new projects in 2022.
I always saw all these thick amazing starters on videos and wondered what I was doing wrong as my started grew amazingly during the day just to deflate following morning, the majority of the videos on the internet never mention the STIFF STARTER, thanks so much for all this VERY CLEAR information, just what I needed to understand!
Discard is so tasty and good. Another thing I like doing is frying it directly in a pan with herbs folded into it. VERY tasty and great to eat with breakfast and dinner right after you feed your starter.
That's a great idea!
This is a great video.
Here are some extras from an old baker who reads up on the science as well.
Most of the yeasts in grain or on the outside, the bran. This is discarded in the making of white flour. Staring your natural leaven using wholemeal flour is a lot faster. (Yes I noticed you did this.)
Rye flour has much more available nutrients. Switching 10g of rwst feed when I see bubbles and the second feed 8 hours later. It is ready to use in about 48 hours.
The lactobacilli move in and get established over the next four weeks. They mainly come from the bakers hands and the atmosphere. So the leaven will improve.
You can convert to a stiff stater in one feed. This is based on years of experience. For years people have overcomplicated the whole natural leaven thing. They are extremely robust.
As for taking your starter with you to collect yest and bacteria from around the world and buying 'ancient' sourdough starters from others. It does not work. Withing a week or two your yeasts and LABS get replaced by the flours you use at home and the LABS in your home. This assertion is based on biochemistry research.
It's superb to see someone using a fridge instead of discards. The only time I use discards is on those odd occasions I have mistreated my starter and it becomes too acidic.
This is the best video on this subject I have ever seen. A joy to watch.
I wish we could get you to make some videos and share the old pro knowledge. There's a lot of misinformation in baking and few pro bakers share their life worth of lessons learned.
More...
A lot of modern home bread baking is based on traditional artisan French bread baking. Though not things like milk breads, seed breads etc or Italian and Spanish breads, which are not so dissimilar.
Book: Thomas Teffri-Chambelland. Sourdough Baking A treatise. There is a version in English. Though he is not a Home Baker and is a little behind the modern curve.
For Rye bread there is only one book and it is excellent. The Rye Baker - Stanley Ginsberg. - Website too.
Good luck
@@pawel7055 Thanks:)
I'm reposting. My last post was too much.
I write articles and post them on a site. Sadly it would be wrong to post that address on someone else's site. Additionally our site is having difficulties. I am wondering about putting the articles together or a self published book, or find a site to host them. I do it out of a love of Home bread baking and do it all for free.
No, UA-cam videos is too much work. It can take me three or four days to write an article as every fact is cross checked etc.
As you can see I have posted some books.
TBH I have drown tired of bread UA-cams. Too often they are by people still learning to bake and who have to keep ups a ferocious pace which seems to leave them too little time to do the studying it takes. It has taken me fifteen years of intensive sudy made harder because there are few good books. So I don't blame UA-camrs too much. They are trying to earn their living.
@@kevinu.k.7042 can I ask you for the site? I did some OSINT and found your name, even some comments on other sites but not your website which was really odd. So without much of another option in finding it, I was hoping you could tell me. Also I appreciate all the details so far.
@@pawel7055 breadbakingathome
Super clear instructions. Wonderful. Thank you
After watching a ton of videos on how to make a sourdough starter and how to use it to make a sourdough bread and getting confused, I found your channel and your instructions are very clear, simple, and have helped me a ton. Thank you so very much
this a pure gold... thank you so much!
Thank you
0:41 That clear steaming bowl is amazing! I'm going to have to find something like that.
Thankyou for the free book, I love to free share knowledge that makes life better. It takes a village!….
Thank you very much!
Such a huge vlog on sourdough!!! 😱. It's amazing how every intricate details are covered in your videos mashallah. Thanks, you are a great help. We in India make lots of recipes out of sourdough and call that fermentation "khameer" in Hindi/Urdu.
Edit: it will be great if you cover those recipes too. Thanks 👍☺️
Over the years, I've watched many people show us how to grow starter. The techniques vary greatly and I'm sure they all work. That's really the instructive point: They all work. I am not an engineer and must have inherited the genetic material that made my parents instinctive cooks. I don't think they ever measured anything in the kitchen. For starter, flours from different parts of the world will likely produce different starter characteristics. The yeast spores are in the flour. The glass container must be very clean, i.e. no detergent residue. I use all-purpose flour. Any water will work but I've had much better luck with distilled water. Do not touch the starter with your fingers. Early contamination should be avoided. Rinse the fork or spoon you use to stir the mixture before using it. I don't weigh...just start with a tablespoon of flour and enough distilled water to make a very thick batter and take it from there. In a few days, mine doubles in about 2-3 hr. When I plan to bake I try to have enough starter for a loaf, use it all and regrow the next batch from whatever is left in the jar...usually whatever is left clinging to the inside of the jar. Works well...no waste.
This is interesting. When I first started, I used to use distilled water. I can see where it would be beneficial to do so at the start but I've never rinsed my utensils and my hands have been all over my starter from the beginning. As time has gone on, I discovered it made virtually no difference when I used tap water. Now we are in a home that has a water softener, and that doesn't seem to make a difference in the feeding of my starter, either. If anything, it's made it stronger. I think it has something to do with the small amount of increased sodium levels in the water. 🤷♀️ Once starter is good and strong, I've discovered it's not the delicate thing I used to believe it is. It can handle a lot!😉
@@simplybeautifulsourdough8920 My comments were intended to help those who were planning to begin the process of developing a new starter. Many end in frustration when the process seems much too slow or repeated contamination with fungus occurs. Decades ago I suffered similar failures and tried to learn from them. Following the guidelines I outlined seems to work reliably. But, as I said, they all work...more or less. I certainly agree with you that, once a starter has developed, it is very hard to kill. That reminds me: It's been weeks since I've fed mine, so better get to it.
@@wholeNwon LOL! Totally agree! I was in a hurry when I replied to you and didn't make it clear that your tips are great for erring on the side of caution while getting 'er going. I think one thing I was worried about as a newbie was doing something down the line to kill the starter I'd worked so hard to grow and maintain. In my reply I was doing a crummy job of attempting to point out that once you have a strong starter established you don't have to be so careful. I apologize for not being clear about that.
@@nancyannesunboxings Not at all. It's a fun topic. There's so much written on what is basically something very simple. I'd add that long ago I had 3 or 4 jars of different starters (some with "legend" histories"). Each produced loaves that did taste different. But, as time went by (it does tend to do that), those differences were lost. It's easy to understand how that happened but it makes one more aware of the biologic cloud in which we function. Enjoyed your comments. Thank you.
@wholeNwon, I definitely respect Hendrik's knowledge and experience and much of my own process comes from what I learn from him. But he recommends a digital scale - and I use a digital scale every time I bake - and that is a purely modern tool. So you come along and recommend how your parents cook, telling of your own instinctive skills yet your own methods suggest they are modern technology based.
As Hendrik mentioned in the history of sourdough, it has been used for thousands of years. People have been successfully baking sourdough breads long before the concept of sterilization was ever even a thought and certainly before you could get distilled water in the home kitchen. Rinsing utensils with raw well water in the pre-1900 kitchen wouldn't have created the sterile environment you suggest. How do you knead or stretch dough without touching the starter with your hands? Many of us today, me included, are germaphobes and wash our hands all day long. The Middle-Ages housewife didn't even wash her hands after going to the latrine.
I do love making (and eating) sourdough using all the modern technology available to me but my original reason for learning to make sourdough was to learn how to feed my family in a disaster when I don't have all the modern accoutrements. I'm not arguing against hygiene and especially not suggesting anyone not wash their hands after going to the bathroom. I'm just suggesting that perhaps the real way to bake sourdough is the old-fashioned way of making the dough by hand and by feel, keeping a bit of dough for the next batch, and not worrying one's self so much about whether our dough hydration was 69% or 70% or whether one used 426 grams of flour instead of the 425 grams the recipe suggested. Without a doubt, the best sourdough video I have seen on youtube was a grandma who baked her sourdough without a scale and with starter that was culled from last week's dough. It was simple, fast, and reliable.
I just want to thank you and tell you how much I appreciate you and your work !!! I just downloaded the book and I couldn’t be more grateful so thank you so much!
Thank you! that answered a lot of questions I was having that I didn't get from other videos. Best video!
oh man... this video the best... and you explain it with flow chart... that is amazing... the free gift book is awesome... i need to start making my firs starter... hope all will go well... thank you for your book and amazing video...
Hi Henrik! this film, along with many others on the channel, is not only great and filled with hands-on knowledge, but it is also fun!
Thank you for the great tutorial! What I like most is the info on how to tell when a starter is ready, other than "X days" instruction which is not very reliable.
Bravo! I 've learned a lot from you this morning. What a prodigious and beautiful mind you have, my friend!
Much simplicity, care, dedication, humility and wisdom is in your channel; which I greatly appreciate from the bottom of my heart. Much obliged, again! May the GOD OF THE BIBLE bless you!
Great content! If I have time to make bread where I'm traveling or if my friend wants some starter, I take my starter with me. It's been to Korea, Egypt, Germany and the USA.
This is seriously the best bread channel on youtube
You have a good sense of humor and lots of great information. Thankyou for sharing! I'm ready to try my first batch of sour dough starter and bake my first loaf of sour dough bread.
From yesterday I have started to make starter, so thank you very much for everything.
I love it.... "I'm an engineer and we love flowcharts"
I hate the taste of sourdough - but my mother loved it. This is very well explained. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience
Have you ever considered selling dehydrated sourdough starter? I wouldn’t mind trying a levain that’s been around the world!
Yes! It is on sale. I am currently trying to figure out who in the community can help with the deliveries. If you are interested please try placing an order: ko-fi.com/thebreadcode/shop. I plan to ship them once per month. But earlier with the help of others. I am also looking for somebody who can help reselling in the US. It's a good way to support the channel :-)
You are so generous . Thank you very much
Great video; I loved the simplicity and practicality of it.. And that it treated us like intelligent people without overcomplicating it (I still do need to get into the weeds but this is a great "actionable" video... I'm guessing this channel will have the more in depth information that I'm looking for too)
I wish I had started baking a long time ago... I've been making pizza dough for years but never took the time to pay much attention... Have made cookies on and off since I was about 15 but again; never paid attention to why things worked (very much at least)...
I've been using Kenji's chocolate chip cookie recipe (basically) for years with great results, but I can't wait to try using some sourdough starter in my dough (and powdered milk which I've never tried in cookies)...
Seems to me that the resting period in the fridge is KEY to good chocolate chip cookies... So I assume this this due to bacteria, enzymes etc, which means that a starter added to my cookies might take it to a whole new level...
Anyways, great video; thanks
Just ordered your book. Excited to learn and try
Hi Hendrik! First vielen dank for your incredible effort and dedication in your videos. I have found the motivation for home-baking thanks to you. I have a question about my starter. It has been 6 days and the starter grows rapidly after feeding, but after 9-10 hours it stars to deflate and bubbles start to shrink, at the 24th hour it almost turns where it started with few tiny bubbles. The scent is strong anyway, i wonder if i have to feed it twice a day? Thank you so much. Keep up your incredible work!🎉😊
I wish you could save your videos. I save all of my favorite videos, and this one is awesome!
I have noticed that after my starter has finished rising I can stir it up and it will do a second rise even higher than the first. I mix my starter very thoroughly in a bowl before I put it in the jar. Perhaps you can experiment and see if this could be beneficial to bread making.
I presume you are basically autolysing the starter and with the stir, you are “kneading” and aligning the gluten. As long as there is still sugars available, it will produce more gas and rise more. What ratio of old starter to flour and water? If it low(1-5-5 or 1-10-10, vs 1-2-2), there is probably plenty food left after 8 hours.
@@timtyndall4025 1-2-2. It’s peaked when I stir it.
@@MichaelRei99 hmmm? That’s odd. In my experience anyway. If I stir my peaked starter, it will rise again. But not more than the first rise. Maybe your local, natural yeast is very active and strong. Or mine is weaker🤷🏼♂️. I would just bulk ferment at a lower temp so it doesn’t rise too fast and it still gets the sourness desired. Unless it doesn’t affect the bread rise, but just the starter. So many variables. This would be a complex experiment.
I changed the way I make my Starter thanks to your tips..
Hendrik, I learn from you every time. I also learn from Sune and Charlie. Thanks to you and all the others.
English suggestion: Don't call yourself a stingy German. Stingy implies a moral defect, like Scrooge. Call yourself frugal. Not wanting to waste.
Regards from Bill the Philologist in Austin, Texas.
Thanks Bill. Will keep that in mind!
Thanks so much for posting this clear, easy to follow method for making a sour dough starter. I’d tried another UA-camr method and after ten days it was still not very active. I’m in Australia and it’s really cold earlier than normal this year, but following your tips I had a starter within 5 days and I made my first bread with this on day 6. I then made a stiff starter and the second loaf that I made with the stiff starter was great. I need a few more bakes to learn how to develop better dough strength, but I’m sure I can follow your tips to develop my skills. Thanks heaps!
I really enjoy your videos, its so addictive, and I learned so much. I am beginner in sourdough baking. The problem I have appears to be weak starter. I misunderstood the feeding technique and feeded 1:1 (starter : flour) ratio, 2 times a day (22°C). The starter became weak after a week and the crumb was uneven and dense. Feeding 1:2 or 1:5 didnt help and I confess I was rushing a bit, but even though the starter looked great, rised 2-3 times after feeding with a lot of bubbles and nice smell, the crumb didnt improve. I am now feeding just dirty jar with 30g flour and 30g water. And I hope for stronger starter in week. If you could elaborate on this topic it would be great.
Amazing content man, really digging it! I have been making bread for 4 years but this channel fixes so many things for me. I really appreciate that you explain the logic, and how it works, without giving exact time.
One question:
For the stiff started, are you supposed to put it on the fridge every time? Right away? I though the fridge would almost stop the fermentation. So, no normal temperature at all? How is it supposed to grow?
Thanks! Keep it up!
Keep 'er out on the counter after feeding until she's at least doubled. Then put 'er in the fridge to store. She'll likely continue to slowly grow in there until all nutrients are eaten up, then collapse and take a nap until you feed her again. 🙂
This was very informative and so well explained. I’ve watched, read, and experimented so much with starter but it’s never been explained like this to me. Thank you for the info!
P.s. I love the flow charts! I might have to print those out for my collection/archive of bread/starter info
Thank you very much! You can also download my book for free here: thebreadco.de/book. There is some more information that might be helpful. Cheers!
AMAZING Video. Hoping for your book to come out soon.
Thank you for the scientific approach! I decided to try your method. I have a question though. After day one do you continue to feed the starter with whole grain flour? My previous starter failed before reaching its full potential 😂 it just stopped growing. The recipe was taken from another guy. So today I started making it your way 😊
Great thorough science intro to bread making...enjoyed as i begin my research to perfect 😊 !
I am very excited about this! I will try to do it as soon as possible! thanks so much! You are amazing! Thanks
Thank you 🤗
Thank you 🤗
I have a starter thats about a yr and 1/2 old. I freq leave it in fridge up to 2 months or more
Then tke it out and feed to backbthe next day. It always bounces back strong. I dont bake often
I actually watched this whole video without skipping haha. Loved the video, thank you!
Thank you so much for teaching me this! I appreciate you endlessly. Can you make sourdough pasta with a stiff starter?
Enjoyed your video, which is so easy to follow. It's a joy listening to you. Thanks for sharing. I'm going to begin making you recipe now. See what happens.
I'm overwhelmed. Hope I can do this. Ty
Love the Miro board flow charts!
I feel like I am back in High School Chemistry, and as back then, I'll have to review repeatedly.
Great video.
Can you please make a video how to stiff the sourdough. And thank you for your helpfully videos
You’re so fun! Love it… I’m struggling with making my starter so, I’ve stolen some from my boss 😂…she kept in the fridge and it had a dark liquid on the top. I took 60grams of it and fed 50/50 water and flour.
Fingers crossed
Great help, I’m definitely struggling with my starter so will try your tips.
Your expertise is impressive!
Flow charts are my love language.
Hey Hendrik. I decided to try and make a sourdough starter cause i watched a lot of videos of you.
I still habe a question on how to make the starter.
Here in the video you used 50gr of starter 50gr of flour and 50gr of water. And you have to repeat this step until the starter is ready.
In your book you wrote to add just 10gr of starter and each 50gr of flour and water.
What is better? Does it even matter?
Thanks and Bye
Great content as always. I have problem with activity of my starter, I like cold environment. Room temperature is only 14 degrees Celsius, yeasts have a rough time :/
Oh yes. Thinks will be very slow for you. But it's no problem!
My kitchen is about 16C. I put my fed starter and bulk rise dough in the oven with the light on to save time.
Thank you so much. I was super confused, especially about the discard stuff lol
Great video. I’m brand new to bread making. This is great info thanks. Will definitely be checking out your other videos.👍
Many thanks for sharing this valuable knowledge....you've done such great work!
Thank you!
Wow what an incredilby well done video thank you!
Nice video, very reformative. Love the flow charts, that suits me.
Informative !!
Dear Hendrik, thanks for your videos! looking forward reading your book. Could you explain, or make a video, about how to use the stiff starter? That would be really helpful!
Yok are amazing.Thank you so much for your information
Does the stiff starter work with a rye starter? I know the starter behaves differently depending on the type of flour used. Also, the stff starter might change the flavour and nutrition values of the bread, no? As in, reducing the factor that makes sourdough sour, and thus shifting it closer to comercial yeast bread?
Thank you for you expertise regarding sourdough start to finish. My question is regarding the sourdough discard, how hong can you keep it in the refrigerator and can you add one weeks to another weeks discard? Thanks!
Great question. Yes! You can. I do that all the time.
@@the_bread_code ty!
Super informativ .Danke so sehr 🙏🎵
Loved this video. Keep them coming.
First attempt, and I had to go back and start over. First batch, no problem, and result was beautiful gluten development. Second feeding, it bubbled up and more than doubled in size, and great gluten development. ^Third feeding, and it went soupy, and almost no bubbling. Wondering if maybe I had a super flour or some thing else happened. Oh well starting again. Interesting to me was that I had better gluten development than I ever had with my attempts at poolish breads....
I too will restart as on day one I had black liquid resting on-top. Now on day 4 I have lots of activity but the smell is not tart like yogurt more or a funk trash smell....yikes!
Hello. Thank you so much for the video and the book 😊
This is amazing. Thank you so much!!
This summer I tried to develope my sourdough starter. Many trials with one result: at the end my bread dough turns very sticky, and sour dough itself turns liquid fast, doesn't rise good and doesn't produce huge bubbles. I've learned that this is because of Leuconostoc bacteria, which develope in the starter with other bactetia and yeat, and when temperature is not hight enough, Leucinostoc becomes dominating. It creates acidic environment and destroys gluten. Have you ever had this issue and how can this be fixed ? I'm afraid, then any starter turns this way in my hands. Thank you much, Bread code for your bread work and brrad inspiration!
I think your starter isn't mature enough yet. If you just keep feeding it the microorganisms that are best at fermenting flour will become stronger and stronger. I suggest one feeding per day. If you don't have time, one feeding every 2 days should be great too. Maybe you have a friend that can spare you a bit of his/her starter? That way you are starting with stronger more established microorganisms.
Found your channel recently and really love the content.
I strictly followed your guidelines and cooked amazing sour dough bread Thank you immensely I wish I could share photos
Confusing: Looks like a great instruction, but I'm confused after I downloaded the entire instruction handbook. The video and the flow says for Day 2- Day 5 (up to Day 10) "mix 50g previous/ original + 50g Flour + 50g water", but the hand book flow shows "10g previous + 50g flour + 50g water"
Which ratio is correct or better??
I just converted my starter to a stiff starter. My new starter will now be called "Big Stiffy!😁"
Send me recepy
So grateful for your videos and nerd humor! If I wasn't currently sick and not working (which is why I'm delving into sourdough) I would love to help sponsor your book. So excited.
Thank you!
Hendrik, since I found your channel I have seriously upped my sourdough game. Thank you so so much for sharing all your wisdom with the world. I loooooove that you take your starter on all your journeys and I feel inspired to copy this amazing idea. May the gluten be with you always. Peace ✌️
For what it is worth, I have found the best starter combines half bread flour and half organic, whole grain rye flour. I prefer larger batches of starter. Mine is 120 grams each starter, flour (60/60) and water (KA calls for 113 grams each). I make great tasting bread.
Hey Hendrik! Could you look into a gluten free starter? My s.o., who is a teacher had all her students (142) make starters from different flour types and the gluten free ones were some of the most successful! And would love to hear your thoughts on that! Thanks for the great content!
Thanks. Great comment. I just did that the other day. I will include it in the FAQ.
Thanks. You are my sourdough guru. Have been making sourdough once a week almost 2 years (baking traditional yeast breads for 50 years). Started a new starter for fun and in just 3-4 days was really bubbly, ph 4. Have used 2 parts water, 1 part rye flour. Has a very acetone fragrance, not like vinegar. Does this mean too acidic to make good bread? Or more bacteria than yeast? Thanks for all your helpful information.
Had an extremely similar problem -- I was using whole wheat flour with the occasional scoop or two of rye to add in some extra flavor. I wasn't able to get rid of the acetone smell after almost a month and a half so I had to restart (I also brought a new bag of flour since I was concerned my whole wheat had gone rancid).
Restarted it with 50/50 organic AP Flour/Rye at 100-150% hydration and it's MUCH better
Please make a video on making a Sourdough discard loaf with stiff starter discard
As a new sourdough baker I was finding it a bit tricky to figure out how much flour and water is in my starter when using a portion of starter that is not at 100% hydration. I therefore came up with a little formula to work it out and am sharing it in case anyone would find this handy.
For example, if you have 150 grams of starter at 120% hydration and need 80 grams for your recipe, the amount of flour and water in the 80 grams of starter can be determined as follows:
Flour + (starter hydration x flour) = amount of starter needed in recipe
X + 1.20x = 80
2.20x = 80
X = 80 / 2.20
X = 36.4 grams flour
Then subtract the 36.4 grams of flour from the 80 grams of starter to determine the amount of water in the starter:
80 - 36.4 = 43.6 grams water.
Therefore 80 grams of starter at 120% hydration contains 36.4 grams of flour and 43.6 grams of water. Now the amounts of flour and water in your recipe can be accurately adjusted to account for this. This formula will work for any amount of starter at any hydration level.
Hi Rebert. I dont think you need all that math . Its always about percentages of the starter and percentages of the water regardless of how much water and flour in the starter itself. Whether the starter is stiff or liquidy deal with the stater as a single item with a percentage usually 5-20% according to the length of your fermentation period , temperature and type of flour. Poolish is different story. The amount of water and flour in poolish must be taken into account
@ Iman H while I agree with your reply, as I was starting out with learning sourdough baking a came across numerous sites that stated it was important to factor in the water and flour in the starter to not alter the overall hydration of the recipe. So in context, for a baker who is looking for exact results every time it may be worth it, but for someone like me who bakes once every two weeks to keep myself off of store bought bread it doesn’t seem to make much difference if any. By now I don’t measure when I feed my starter but go by look and feel. The same is when I hand knead my dough, adding a little water or flour to get the consistency I want. That undoubtedly throws off the hydration which makes for accounting for flour and water in the starter a moot point.
I just want to say, thank you so much for creating the content on your channel! I have been baking frisbees (they are delicious) and not understanding why... until I found your channel. There are so many things that I have learned from your videos that were never explained in the cookbooks I bought. I also really love your flow charts! ❤️
I do have 2 questions....
1 I unfortunately bought a huge bag of flour with only 3% protein (I live in Taiwan and never knew high gluten flour existed). Since I am also German I really don't want to throw any of it away.... do you have any hacks for baking sourdough with this type of flour?
2 My starter is also being fed the same flour. It doubles and is bubbly, but I want to start feeding it whole wheat flour. Do you see any issues with this?
Petra, I hope you found out what to make with your low gluten flour. If you have space, store in freezer to keep longer. You can make pastry pie dough, pudding, soft cakes or like me I replace 25% all purpose flour with low gluten cake flour when making danish dough following Anna Olson’s recipe.
It should be fine to add whole wheat flour, mix with a bit of starch if you're worried though. Sourdough is alive and it is possible to wean it off of the food it's used to, but you don't have to do that unless you're using your started every day. Worst case you might see it slow down for a day or two.
Also with the gluten, I reccomend kneading it more, and using autolysis, that should make the gluten developed better, I knead my dough until the gluten is developed enough and it becomes hard to fold.
Software developer getting back into sourdough. Following the instructions. Only 4 days in but my starter now triples in volume in 12 hours. For kicks I refreshed it last night at 12 hours. 12 hours later it had tripled again. Doesn’t have the smell I expect yet. However, at day 6 I’m going try baking a loaf with it. I will be turning this into a stiff starter.
Hi, love your video. Can I used water from the tap? Chlorine won’t kill the yeast? Thank you 🙏